Client Profiles: Washington Hospital Center

Among the 25 largest hospitals in the mid-Atlantic region, Washington Hospital Center is the flagship facility for the MedStar Health system. The 926-bed, D.C-based facility ranks among the nation’s top hospitals, as measured by U.S. News & World Report, the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP) and Consumers’ Checkbook.

Challenge
The Washington Hospital Center web site was old and barely navigable, and this was detrimental to the top hospital’s credibility. Marketing leadership wanted not only to update its presence, but also to focus its efforts on building community relationships through its web presence and creating a unique user experience. While it’s existing Content Management System (CMS) was a good, basic solution, the product was not being optimized, which was limiting the site’s architectural, dynamic and interactive potential. Finally, it was important to hospital stakeholders to bring the site and its applications to Section 508 compliance.

Engagement

• Design and migration of existing content
• Information architecture
• Content Management System (CMS) evaluation
• Custom modules build-out
• Interactive build-outs, including:
• Streaming video
• Data-driven media center
• Podcasting
• Video advertising, including Flash conversion of existing video
• Email newsletter
• Design
• Deployment
• Database management and measurement
• Execution of Section 508 compliance for content and applications

Results
Switching to a new CMS product was not an option for Washington Hospital Center. After evaluating the hospital’s existing product, CentreTEK was able to parse out opportunities for improving some of its features, rewriting a large part of the system to allow for custom development. That included building customized modules, as well as new design templates that improved upon the site’s look and feel. CentreTEK also developed new information architecture that enhanced and streamlined the site’s organization, which was fully integrated within its updated CMS.

With the customizable CMS, CentreTEK was able to build and integrate such interactive elements as podcasting and video galleries, features that were important for Washington Hospital Center’s goal of enhancing user experience.

Implementing Section 508 compliance has broadened the hospital’s user base, making its web presence much more widely accessible. Opt-in email newsletter campaigns and video advertising have also broadened the hospital’s base, and have increased traffic and referrals to targeted service areas.

Today, Washington Hospital Center and CentreTEK are truly partners who communicate almost daily about leveraging new technologies to develop web-based initiatives. And, the CentreTEK team is the hospital’s de facto "brain trust" for all things web-related.